LAPTOPSHOPPERY - hold my hand

[Laivasse]

Hai guys, this is a thread for people to coo sweet reassurances to me while I hum and haw over a laptop purchase.

Basically I'm looking for recommendations for a desktop replacement laptop, since I'm currently bouncing around between various residences. Money is - more or less - no object. What do you think I should buy?

Research thus far:

• I've heard horrible anecdotes about the customer service from Alienware and PC Microworks. While I'm sure some people may have had great experiences with them, if I'm shelling out top dollar then I would personally like to minimise the risk of service blunders, so I won't be going with either of these companies. Plus, when I hear that a company likes to play fast and loose with customer satisfaction, I am reluctant to reward those companies with my custom.
  
• It would be nice to have a machine with at least a GeForce Go 8800GTX, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to know if SLI is complete overkill for a laptop or not. Same goes for quad core - is there a point? The only real resource intensive thing I'm going to be doing is gaming.
  
• By the same token I've looked at some of the Clevo resellers like Sager and FalconNW and while the hardware seems impressive, the battery life of under 1 hour just seems really lousy. I would be running it from the power outlet most of the time, sure, but I also want something that isn't completely useless on an airplane - the ability to watch at least one average length movie without it conking out would be nice.
  
• Overheating is also a big concern. If you know of any product that is pretty beefy but which also has a reputation unblemished by bluescreens or lock ups, shout it out.

Thanks for any help.

BTW if there's news of some promising-sounding mobile technology over the horizon, or a range of great laptops yet to be released (or anything like that), I'm prepared to hold off on my purchase so let me know about anything like that too.

 

[Barney Fife]

I, personally would advise you to go with style (Since money isn't the object). Countless colors to choose from and you don't even need socks to go with it.

Good Luck Girlfriend.

 

[VirusType2]

I just saw something new from ATi. it's an external graphics card solution,. don't know if that is of any interest, but there it is


Personally, Im' interested in ... I think it's called a Tough Book. Not sure.

It's like heavy duty. and stuff.

metal shock and drop resistant case with a waterproof keyboard in case you spill your drink on it

 

[Laivasse]

I, personally would advise you to go with style (Since money isn't the object). Countless colors to choose from and you don't even need socks to go with it.

Good Luck Girlfriend.

D:

Nice and eyecatching I guess, and while a diamond encrusted laptop that looks like a handbag and costs hundreds of thousands of $$$ appeals to the flaming homo in me, it's not quite what I'm looking for at this time (the specs being pretty ancient too...).

I just saw something new from ATi. it's an external graphics card solution,. don't know if that is of any interest, but there it is

I've seen things like that too, but though they intrigue me as a means to giving an aging laptop a new lease of life, for the moment I'm looking for a machine that is at least fairly futureproof and has everything it needs inside the case. That's also why I'm a bit worried about overheating probs, since I don't want to have to be fiddling awkwardly with a USB cooler accessory.

Anyone? With recommendations for a laptop that could:
1) be used as a desktop replacement for gaming
2) Has maybe 2 hours of battery life at least
3) Won't give me chronic overheating

...?

 

[Eejit]

Asus G1 or G2 look pretty decent, my flatmate's decided to get one.

 

[Barney Fife]

D:

Nice and eyecatching I guess, and while a diamond encrusted laptop that looks like a handbag and costs hundreds of thousands of $$$ appeals to the flaming homo in me, it's not quite what I'm looking for at this time (the specs being pretty ancient too...).

Fikin lol. You're a sport.

In that case could I interest you in something like This? Though the HD spins slower than your preference; the specing isn't that ancient.

Good Luck Bro.

 

[Letters]

So why do you need a desktop replacement laptop?

(Just so I don't make an ass of myself listing all the reasons why laptops are one of the shittiest things to spend your money on to someone who actually has a legitimate reason)

I will say this though... future proof, non over-heating "desktop replacement" laptop? HAH, does -not- exist.


I had one once and lived to regret it.

 

[Laivasse]

In that case could I interest you in something like This? Though the HD spins slower than your preference; the specing isn't that ancient.

Good Luck Bro.

Cheers, and thanks for the suggestion but I was thinking of something with a more high powered graphics card, and possibly SLI.

So why do you need a desktop replacement laptop?

My living arrangements are complicated at the moment. My time is split living between two places that are very far away from eachother, and there's also a chance that I might uproot and move to a third place, overseas, for a while too. I don't have the room/resources/will to set up gaming desktops in each of the three places I could potentially be living in at any one time, especially when I would have to dispose of each system somehow once I was finished in a certain place.

I will say this though... future proof, non over-heating "desktop replacement" laptop? HAH, does -not- exist.

My research is kind of leading me towards this conclusion, which is why I'm looking for feedback in order to find the closest possible thing.

For instance, how necessary is it to have two 8800GTX's in SLI if I want to run games impeccably at 1680x1050 (or potentially 1920x1200)...? If the answer is 'not at all necessary', I would happily eschew one in order to save on power consumption and heat.

Even in that situation, though, I'm faced with the problem that a lot of the 17" laptops I'm coming across are rebranded Clevo D901C's - the chassis of these are designed to be able to hold a ton of graphics cards and HD's, so I'd be paying for something much thicker than it might need to be.

So I'm open to suggestions.

 

[Eejit]

A single 8800gt equivalent will be more than enough for 1680. 1920 will need a bit more.

 

[lePobz]

I've not seen a laptop with a 1920x1200 display, the biggest ive seen so far is on the 8920G, at 1920x1080.

 

[Laivasse]

There are quite a few around atm, mostly built off the same Clevo chassis, for example the Malibal Nine series. It's just that the 1-hour-ish battery life of some of these offerings (plus the huge bulky case due to SLI + lots of HD's, possible heat problems, etc.) is very unappealing to me so I was wondering if anyone knew of something better...

 

[lePobz]

So you're after something with similar power, but without the huge power drain or heat ... Personally I think you may be asking for too much ... two GPUs, a beefy multi-core CPU, and a huge lcd screen = one hell of a power drain, you'll have to wait for some fuel-cell-powered laptop.

 

[VirusType2]

There are quite a few around atm, mostly built off the same Clevo chassis, for example the Malibal Nine series. It's just that the 1-hour-ish battery life of some of these offerings (plus the huge bulky case due to SLI + lots of HD's, possible heat problems, etc.) is very unappealing to me so I was wondering if anyone knew of something better...

my laptop lasts about 15 minutes without a plug. I got it used though. Anyway, It's still highly portable, it just fairly useless without an outlet. I wonder if I can get an upgraded battery for it.


there are different types of rechargeable batteries.

I'm not sure what type laptops use, but for example with the AA rechargeable ones I use for other stuff, the higher the mAH, the longer it will last. You can get AA batteries that last two or three times as long as ordinary ones, so I'm sure they have something like that for laptops.

Might look into an upgraded battery

 

[lePobz]

Laptop batteries degrade over time - If they're a year or two old, they're completely useless. They need to be used regularly to keep them 'good' - If they are just left to drain, it really kills them.

 

[Barney Fife]

Laptop batteries degrade over time - If they're a year or two old, they're completely useless. They need to be used regularly to keep them 'good' - If they are just left to drain, it really kills them.

That's something I didnt know.

 

[VirusType2]

some tips

Simple Guidelines

* Avoid frequent full discharges because this puts additional strain on the battery. Several partial discharges with frequent recharges are better for lithium-ion than one deep one. Recharging a partially charged lithium-ion does not cause harm because there is no memory. (In this respect, lithium-ion differs from nickel-based batteries.) Short battery life in a laptop is mainly cause by heat rather than charge / discharge patterns.

* Batteries with fuel gauge (laptops) should be calibrated by applying a deliberate full discharge once every 30 charges. Running the pack down in the equipment does this. If ignored, the fuel gauge will become increasingly less accurate and in some cases cut off the device prematurely.

* Keep the lithium-ion battery cool. Avoid a hot car. For prolonged storage, keep the battery at a 40% charge level.

* Consider removing the battery from a laptop when running on fixed power. (Some laptop manufacturers are concerned about dust and moisture accumulating inside the battery casing.)

* Avoid purchasing spare lithium-ion batteries for later use. Observe manufacturing dates. Do not buy old stock, even if sold at clearance prices.

* If you have a spare lithium-ion battery, use one to the fullest and keep the other cool by placing it in the refrigerator. Do not freeze the battery. For best results, store the battery at 40% state-of-charge.

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm


from another source

Battery Usage Tips
1. New battery pack must be fully charged before use.
2. New battery pack needs to be fully charged and discharged (cycled) a few times before it can condition to full capacity.
3. Rechargeable batteries undergo self-discharging when left unused. Always store a battery pack in a fully charged stage for storage.
4. Fully drain and fully recharge your battery pack every few month.
5. Turn down the LCD brightness of your portable device.
6. Use built-in power management on your portable device.
7. Turn off LCD or other unnecessary accessories when not in use.
8. Set screen saver blank to 1 to 2 minutes of your notebook
9. Add more RAM if you have extra RAM expansion slot, it will reduce the usage of hard drive and it is power exhaustive.
10. Close unused software in your notebook.
11. Remove unused PC Cards or USB devices from your notebook.
12. Don't watch DVD or play graphics intensive video games.
13. Don't short circuit terminal or store your battery pack with metal parts.
14. Don't drop or mutilate the battery pack.
15. Don't expose to moisture or water.
16. It is normal to get warm when charging or normal use. If it is getting too hot, there may be a problem with the device and qualified personnel should check it.

http://www.laptop-battery.org/batterytips.html

 

[Laivasse]

OK, guys, I'm tempted by this, see what you think:


M570RU-U Clevo M570RU-U 17" WSXGA+ Intel Penryn Core™ 2 Duo Notebook

WSXGA 1680 x 1050 Wide Viewing Angles Super Glossy
nVIDIA? GeForce? 8800M GTX 512MB DDR3 + Turbo Cache-DX 10
8X DVD?R/RW/4X + DL Super-Multi Drive W/Software
Intel Core™2 45nm X9000 2.80Ghz 6MB 800MHz
Mirror Polished CPU Heat Sink With Arctic Silver 5
200GB Seagate SATA II 7200 RPM 3Gbs 16MB G-force Protection
Intel Turbo Memory Mini-PCI-e 1GB NAND Flash Memory Card
4GB KINGSTON HyperX DDR2 667 CL4 Dual Channel Kit
Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN 802.11 a/b/g/ Draft N Mini-PCIe
Windows Vista Home Premium With SP1 64-bit DVD

...With a carry bag and a spare battery for the princely sum of $3285.00.

Thoughts?

 

[Laivasse]

Bump. Anyone have an opinion on that? Unless there is something glaringly stupid that I have missed about those specs I will be placing an order for this lappy in the next few days. The only bad thing is that I can't buy a Dead Pixel Guarantee with this model, but the proprietor has assured me that they have a thorough 'burn in' and would never ship a model with dead pixels. Considering that a FalconNW notebook with SLI and a couple more hard drives might cost near $8000, I figure this isn't a bad deal.

 

[theotherguy]

That's really freaking expensive.

 

[Laivasse]

Compared to many other laptops, yeah, but for what it is I'm not seeing anywhere that offers cheaper. I'd be grateful to anyone else who did know of a cheaper offer for an equally powerful setup though.

In the UK I would probably pay the same price for an underperforming brick off the shelf at PCWorld or wherever...

 

[theotherguy]

Compared to many other laptops, yeah, but for what it is I'm not seeing anywhere that offers cheaper. I'd be grateful to anyone else who did know of a cheaper offer for an equally powerful setup though.

In the UK I would probably pay the same price for an underperforming brick off the shelf at PCWorld or wherever...

Why do you need that much power in a laptop anyway?

 

[Laivasse]

It's a desktop replacement, scroll up.

 

[CyberPitz]

Egad, expensive D:

It looks like a solid laptop, though.

 

[Escaep]

Dont eat me for suggesting this.

Although it is not a laptop, you could consider an iMac. The new ones are truly not that bad. For $2399 you can get a 3.06 C2D, 4 GB DDR2 800, 500 GB hd, and an 8800GS. And they are all built into a 24" monitor. I have the 24" model with lower peripherals. http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APP...9224001/wo/cB4y475GPqYs2kAnYjM1vMjdzML/2.?p=0

Granted it is not a laptop but you don't have to mess with the tower and monitor. Even though it comes with OSX installed you can easily put Windows on it via Boot Camp.

Just thought i would throw that out there. :thumbs:

p.s. dont flame/attack me for suggesting this. please.

 

[VirusType2]

looks like you might be able to store the keyboard in that slot on the side of the monitor